I want to thank Tom Garnett for sharing some gorgeous pictures from the event where he captured all my hard work. I want to thank Simon less for not wearing the whole thing and apparently not taking the armour I made for him out of the car. However, it was designed to work in layers of various kinds, and so I think it’s ok – as long as he wears it in the future sometime so that all my hard work becomes worth it.

Also Adam, for seeing me through a day of costume making where there were sense of humour failures, serious regret and almost even tears as I battled to get it finished on time for the event.

I’m surprised at how light the blue of the outer robes looked in the end. They looked far more grey in my flat, but I really like how it came together.

I was particularly pleased with the tagelmust. Not anything particularly fancy, but I added a row of studs to the end of the fabric that echoed the design of the armour. Before he wears it again I plan to also trim the long edges with yellow binding so that there is a twisted effect when he wears it.

You just have to love that striped effect around the legs, don’t you? Well I do. The back being cut into three and the high side splits really make it for me. I love the way that it flares as he walks.

I’m also really pleased that we did the whole thing out of natural fibres. I know some people really like synthetic fabrics for this kind of costume. I mean, they are an easy way to get bright colours and cool patterns. But I’m pleased that early on we decided to stick entirely to natural fibres. I much prefer working with them and I like the look of natural fibres about a thousand times more than synthetics. I know there’s a time and a place for everything, but if I’m ripping traditional middle-eastern/Arabic/Bedouin to pieces and recreating it in a fantasy style for shits and giggles, the least I can do is remain authenticish to the materials. That’s a vague attempt at some respect as well as making it look cool. (Cultural appropriation really bothers me.)

I should add at this point that yes, I’m willing to take on commissions. However I’m not cheap. Nor will I make something completely off the peg. Please don’t send me shitty emails telling me I’m more expensive than other LRP traders or I’m not worth as much as I think I am. I don’t really care about your opinions and if you don’t like my prices you can have something from someone else. Also, I only create kit for people I like, with a brief that I can fall in love with. Try me.

After all was said and done though, this whole outfit cost about £130 in materials in total. That’s the robes, outer robes, armour and tagelmust. As well as a whole metric-fuckton of love for a friend. You can’t buy that shit.